1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector used for a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle, and in particular, to an inlet connector used for a charging inlet device.
2. Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-275653 proposes a charging inlet device to which a charging connector as a mating connector is fitted and which is provided to a vehicle in order to charge a battery to be mounted to a vehicle body such as an electric vehicle (EV) or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A description will be given of such a charging inlet device with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a charging inlet device 500 includes an inlet connector 510 and a cap 520 rotatably provided to the inlet connector 510.
The inlet connector 510 includes a connector housing 511 provided with a plurality of terminals 530 (see FIG. 2) therein, an outer hood 512 covering a periphery of the connector housing 511, and a vehicle body mounting flange portion 513 projecting outwardly from the outer hood 512.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, each terminal 530 is accommodated in a terminal accommodating chamber 511A formed in the connector housing 511, and is connected to a mating terminal (not illustrated) by relative movement therebetween. When each terminal 530 is completely accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 511A, each terminal is locked to each lance 511B. Each terminal 530 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 511A in a state of being positioned according to the locking force of each lance 511B. At this time, respective terminals 530 are arranged along an insertion direction ID of the charging connector with respect to the charging inlet device 500.